The Bonds of Brotherhood
by captainbartholomew
Summary: With Roman laid out unconscious in the ring, Dean knew he had to go after Bray Wyatt if he wanted to find Roman's little girl. The Lunatic Fringe thought this would be a solo mission, but he forgot family always raises the stakes. Oneshot.


_**Title: The Bonds of Brotherhood**_

 _ **Author: captainbartholomew**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own any members of the WWE or other items that may be copyrighted in this story. I only own my personal ideas, characters, opinions, etc. So please, don't sue me!**_

 _ **Summary: With Roman laid out unconscious in the ring, Dean knew he had to go after Bray Wyatt if he wanted to find Roman's little girl. The Lunatic Fringe thought this would be a solo mission, but he forgot family always raises the stakes.**_

 _ ***a/n i: I blame the people who were writing the Roman Reigns story line featuring his daughter and my desire to have some brotherly shump for my own personal benefit. The stupid concept will not leave me alone. I also blame the fanart I saw of Dean holding Roman's daughter, curse you internet! *raises fist angrily in air shaking it***_

 _ ***a/n ii: If you squit, you might see this as slash, but as per my usual that's not the way I roll, so this is just some brotherly shump/love for those who desire it. Read On…**_

(XXXX)

"Maya!" screamed Roman Reigns in the ring as Bray Wyatt smirked over the beaten up wrestler. The Samoan man had just finished a grueling match with Randy Orton and the two were about to shake hands in an effort of sportsmanship when the lights in the arena went off. A scuffle could be heard in the ring but it remained dark, just as quickly as the lights had gone out had they turned back on. Roman and Randy lay in the middle of the ring both knocked down by the pain they had to deal with from the attacking darkness. In the middle of the ring, between the two beaten up wrestlers stood Bray Wyatt, but the new Face of Fear was not alone. Standing in front of the man, trying to squirm away was Roman's daughter, Maya. The young girl clawed, scratched, and attempted to bite at the crazy man's hand, but he would have none of it from her.

"Come find me," Wyatt whispered into the cameras before the arena once again became dark. As the lights came back on, Randy and Roman laid there unconscious. Medical personal quickly stormed the ring in hopes of treating the beaten up and broken wrestlers.

Bray Wyatt sickly smirked as he stared at the monitor showing the carnage left in the ring. With the scariest of glances toward the little girl whose tears were streaming down her face, the New Face of Fear spoke with ease, "Your Daddy will never find you now; Anyone but you, Roman, anyone but you."

(XXXX)

His wrestling boots padded the cement ground of the arena as he rushed to the guerilla. His heart racing as he had watched Wyatt take the little girl from the audience with her mother. If he had told Roman once, he had told him a thousand times, don't bring Maya to a show especially during this feud. Did his older brother listen to him? No, he had rolled his eyes and said no one would be that dumb.

Huh, funny how no one ever listened to him when it came to these types of situations?

"Where is he?" shouted Dean Ambrose as he grabbed one of the PA's by the shirt collar demanding to know the exact location of Wyatt and also know if Roman was alright too at the same time.

The young PA gulped and looked at the man the wrestling community called The Lunatic Fringe, "Roman's being taken to the trainer's room to be treated for a concussion."

Dean ground his teeth together while tightening his hold on the young PA's shirt collar, "That's not who I meant and you know it. I'll say this again, nice and slow too so you can catch on. Where… is…. Bray… Wyatt?"

With terror in the young PA eyes, he looked at the older wrestler terrified for his life and began to mutter unintelligible words. Dean did not find this amusing in the least, as he tossed aside the young PA with not a care in the world before storming out of the guerilla area. If these idiots couldn't keep their shit together regarding employees, then he was on his own with finding Maya and beating Wyatt into a bloody coma leaving him with an inch of his measly life left. No one was going to hurt the kid not as long as he was around to stop it.

On numerous occasions, he had dealt with Wyatt. Ambrose and Wyatt encounters were of legend always besting each other constantly. As Dean walked down the corridors of the arena clenching and unclenching his fists, he remembered how the last time he had done this it had been him, Roman, and Seth. The young wrestler felt his anger ease back leaving him with a pang of sadness. Last time he had scoured the arena like this had been when they were still The Shield. Those were the days when brotherhood and family still meant something to Seth Rollins.

Dean frowned while sliding up against the concrete wall to take a breather from his search for Maya. Sure it had been over a year since Rollin's betrayal against him and Roman, but it sure as hell didn't hurt any less. The fans always called them brothers even in their darkest hour. As many prayed and hoped, Seth would return to them days turned to weeks which turned into a year. The frown on Dean's face deepened when he remembered how Wyatt had exploited his weakness of devotion for his traitorous brother. Wyatt had overstepped his boundaries this time by taking Maya. The horribly bearded swamp troll had toyed with him and his family for the last time. Wyatt taking his niece and Roman's daughter pretty much sealed his fate of being smashed to pieces by the Lunatic Fringe.

As Dean inhaled one last breath of the stale arena air before continuing on his journey to find the terror, did he hear a pair of wrestling boots running toward him. The Lunatic Fringe turned to look in the direction he heard the steps coming from. At first, he thought it might be Jimmy and Jay Uso coming to offer help since they were Roman's family afterall. He would not deny them the simple pleasure of assisting him in beating the snot out of Bray Wyatt.

However, when he looked up he didn't see the family he was expecting. Dean's teeth ground together as his eyes narrowed at the traitorous whelp, which was slowly approaching him with raised arms in defense. Dean could see the terror in his counterpart's eyes. Good, he should be afraid of me, thought an angry Ambrose. The last thing he needed tonight was an Authority sneak attack. Quickly, he glanced around looking for the Kane, J & J, or Triple H; with none of them around a weird facial expression crossed the young man's face.

"They're not here," Seth spoke up as he put down his arms unsure if Dean was still angry or not. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion didn't trust the Lunatic Fringe not to attack him. "The Authority, I mean, they left before the rest of the show ended. They were gone before Maya was kidnapped."

"And you're telling me this, why?" questioned Dean in a dry tone as he turned his back to Rollins not really caring about what the little weasel was going to do to him without his henchmen. He heard Seth quickly follow him as Dean attempted to quicken his pace to get away, tonight was not the night to fuck with him.

"Because I want to help," Seth said quite angrily looking at Dean's retreating figure as it marched down the hallway. The instant Seth finished what he was saying he saw Dean turn around in a flash. Quickly, the older wrestler had the younger pinned up against the concrete wall. Making sure to apply pressure to Seth's rib cage, Dean stared into the traitorous eyes of his adversary.

"Listen you little punk, I don't want your help. I'm also positive, Maya wouldn't want help from your villainous hid either. She knows you're a traitor just like everybody else, so you can call it quits to whatever scheme you're trying to play and get lost. Do I make myself clear?" questioned a now livid Dean as Seth winced from the pain being applied to his ribs thanks to the other man pushing on them.

"I… I can't… I made a promise…" Seth spoke between wheezes for air as he looked Dean dead in the eyes. Dean saw something he hadn't seen in a long time from his ex-friend. There was a spark beginning to light again in those eyes; Dean hadn't seen that spark since Seth became a traitor. Maybe he should hear the little weasel out; he could use some backup against Wyatt.

"What?" questioned Dean in confusion as he let Seth go unsure if that was a wise decision.

As Seth let out several struggling breaths for air, "I said, I made a promise, a promise to Maya if you must know. Before we broke up, I promised her the Shield would always be there to protect her even in the direst situations. I need to help you get her back. I don't break my promises, you know that. Especially not to her."

Dean rolled his eyes convinced this was just one of Seth's plans to trap and beat the hell out of him later. Being he probably would need help anyway to get Maya away from Wyatt, he'd have to trust Seth for now.

"Fine," answered a reluctant Lunatic Fringe as he began walking back in the direction he had started in before Seth showed up, "We got to get going if we want to find her, Wyatt has to be in this arena somewhere, right?"

Seth nodded and thought for a moment before turning toward Dean, "Did you check the boiler room? I know when we were still the Shield we would find the Wyatt's there quite often."

"No," Dean answered reluctantly. How could he have been so stupid and not even thought to check there first? He kicked at the ground absentmindedly in frustration as he felt Seth put his arm around Dean's shoulder as if in a way saying it was okay. The young wrestler hesitantly accepted the gesture still not trusting the vile traitor he was working with to get Maya back.

(XXXX)

"Why do the evil wrestlers have hideouts down here?" complained Dean as his eyes adjusted to the dim boiler room light. All he could see was dusty cobwebs hanging from the moldy walls in front of him. He heard Seth let out a puff of annoyance from behind him while trying to crack a joke to ease the tension between the two. Sure, they had a common interest in this rescue mission, but there was no way Dean would trust Seth farther than he could throw him. He didn't know if Seth was thinking along those same lines, but the tension in the air could literally be cut with a knife between the two ex-Shield mates.

"So, what's the plan?" questioned Seth as he closely followed Dean down the creaky stairs leading to the bottom of the boiler room. Dean rolled his eyes in annoyance. Leave it to the Architect to think he had a plan in place. If Seth hadn't learned by now Dean was a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy, then he would never learn. However, the Lunatic couldn't be upset with his ex-friend since Seth had been the one to execute many of their strategical tactics in their Shield days. Though Dean wasn't one for plans, he decided to oblige Seth with something to get him to shut up.

"Go in guns a blazing, kick Wyatt's ass, and grab Maya. I think that's a decent enough plan don't you?" answered Dean as he turned around to look at Seth who was following close behind him. The look the younger man was giving him was not one of pleasure, but rather of anger and annoyance.

"We need to find Maya and make sure she is okay. You and Roman can deal with Wyatt later," Seth argued more worried about the girl than actually getting to Wyatt. For what seemed like the millionth time that night, Dean ground his teeth together in anger. A small growl erupted from within him, it must have scared Seth given he had jumped back a few feet from the blonde wrester.

"You were the one who wanted to come on this little adventure. I could have done this myself because I haven't needed your help for the last year, why would you think I would need it now?" Dean growled out as his voice grew deeper and angrier with each word he spoke. Once the words had escaped, the young man regretted it. Seth had a somewhat hurt and rejected look on his face which was surely a reflection of what he was thinking. The former leader of the Shield sighed in frustration knowing he had upset the other, but at the same time he really didn't care anymore. He wanted to find Maya and get her back to Roman then go back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the evening. He couldn't worry about upsetting Seth any more than he could worry about how Roman was doing back in the trainer's room. Although, Dean could reluctantly hear Roman's voice in his head saying to give Seth a chance since he was trying to help him. The blonde sighed in defeat knowing deep down he should be nice to the two toned weasel, however before he could say anything said weasel spoke up.

"Listen, I know you really don't want me here, but I love Maya just as much as you do," Seth explained and somewhat argued as they continued to walk down the hallway, "I made her a promise to always be there, even if you, Roman, and I are at each other's throats. I will always be there for her… to protect her just like you two always are. I may not be there every day or every hour, but god damn it, Dean, I promised that little girl I would protect her. I already failed once at doing so when I turned my back on the Shield, I don't intend to fail at it again. If you want to help me save her then you're more than welcome to, but we can't do that while being at each other's throats and you know it. So, can we call a truce for now on our never ending war of beating the holy shit out of each other?"

Dean balked at what he had just heard come out of the WWE World Heavyweight Champion's mouth. Seth Rollins, in all his egotistical glory, had just asked to call a truce to make sure they worked together to save their niece. Did he walk into an alternative universe? This didn't even seem like the Seth he had been warring with over the last year. Instead, the Seth standing before him was a resemblance of the young man who he had once called brother. He couldn't fathom what was going especially when Seth's hand shot out waiting for Dean's to join it to commence the truce of the war.

Hesitantly, Dean Ambrose extended his hand making a fist which Seth had done first. Of course they were one short for this symbolic gesture, but when they put them together it still worked. This symbol had stood for justice, loyalty, trust, and brotherhood. The symbolism of the Shield shown through Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in their darkest hour while trying to find their niece to save her from Wyatt.

"Truce," they both spoke in unison and soon released their fists from the pose. As soon as the two were quiet enough, they heard a quiet whimper which quickly turned into a deep sob. The two men's heads shot up in a hurry realizing it might be their niece. With an exclamation of excitement, together the two cried out in worry, "MAYA!"

Another deep sob could be heard a little further down the hallway. Dean and Seth almost tripped over each other running to the end of the hallway where little Maya Reigns sat under a lightbulb waving back and forth while she was tied to a wooden rocking chair. The little girl looked devastated while struggling against the bonds keeping her tied there and trying to stay awake too since the exhaustion of being taking had surely gotten to her. Luckily, it looked as though Wyatt had not laid a hand on the little girl.

"Maya, munchkin, wake up and stay with me," Seth spoke up as he ran to the girl's side and crouched down beside her. The little girl blinked away her tears as she looked up to see Seth Rollin's standing beside her. A perplexed face of confusion crossed her features when she saw him. However, she also saw her Uncle Dean standing there keeping guard to make sure the mean Mr. Wyatt didn't come back to hurt her. When she realized what was happening, Maya couldn't believe it!

"Uncle Seth?!" Maya said softly with a bit of hope and excitement in her eyes, "You're here?"

"Of course munchkin, where else would I be?" questioned Seth with a soft chuckle, "I had a promise to keep and Seth Rollins does not forget his promises especially to his munchkin. Now, let's see what we can do about these ropes and blow this Popsicle stand so we can get you back to your Dad."

"Uh, Seth you may want to hurry up on those ropes because we got company," Dean spoke up suddenly. Bray Wyatt appeared as if he had materialized from thin air and was quickly approaching to the two wrestlers. The swampy hillbilly did not look pleased Dean Ambrose had found his hideout or his latest prize of Maya Reigns. Quickly, Seth began working on the bindings holding the little girl to the chair.

"Keep him occupied, Dean!" cried Seth as he tried to cut and undo the ropes, but nervously made mistakes. Dean nodded with a wink at Seth then turned his attention back to the so called Face of Fear. Pshaw, Dean Ambrose wasn't afraid of anything especially not hillbilly swamp trolls like Bray Wyatt. He also had a burning hatred for people who had the nerve to attack his brother and take his niece.

With a furious roar that would have done Roman proud, Dean launched into Bray Wyatt with a spear knocking the two to the ground in a tussle on the cold concrete floor of the boiler room. The blonde hammered into the bearded man with balled fists screaming in fists of rage and anger. However, as if getting sick of Dean's pummeling fists, Wyatt threw Dean off of him causing Dean to fly off onto the other side of the room with several cut up pipes crashing around Dean. Who thought it was a good idea to put piled up old pipes against the wall in a boiler room?

Seth realized he was running out of time as he heard the crash of Dean into the pipes and Wyatt beginning to monologue about how great he was to Dean, who lay on the ground withering in agony. He wondered if that was how he sounded when he stood in the ring bragging about his accomplishments, with a quick shake of his head he returned to his current task. The champion could see Wyatt's toss of Dean into the poles had managed to cut the other man open. As Maya's bonds fell to the ground, Seth quickly ushered the little girl to stand behind him in order to protect her from the current psycho. Wyatt hadn't noticed Seth had been freeing Maya giving him the upper hand to save Dean before further damage could be done. Wyatt continued to monologue, but as soon as he turned around Seth gave a running start at the man hitting him with a vicious clothesline that took Wyatt's head off. The swamp monster lay on the ground unconscious as Seth looked at his arm to see red welts and bruises beginning to form on his arm. Of course, explaining his injuries to Hunter and Stephanie was going to be fun later, but for now he had to get himself, Maya, and Dean out of the boiler room unscathed.

"Come on Uncle Dean, we need to get going," Maya said as she crouched down next time the Lunatic Fringe a bit nervous her other uncle would not get up from the attack he had taken from Bray. Seth could hear the blonde groaning in pain and attempting to wipe the blood off his face. The champion quickly approached the two and extended his hand to Dean for the second time that night.

"Here," Seth said as he grabbed Dean's arm and helped the man to stand. Gingerly, Seth wrapped Dean's arm around his shoulders to support him after his little brawl with Wyatt. Then he gestured for the little girl to come over to him and jump on his back to give her a piggyback ride, "Come here Maya, I'll carry you too. We need to get the two of you to the trainer's office and make sure Roman is okay."

"What about him?" Dean grunted turning his head in the general direction of where Wyatt lay on the ground unconscious from Seth's surprise attack.

"I think he'll be out for a while," Seth answered as he shifted his weight to support both Maya and Dean, "Plus he knows now he has to contend with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins when he messes with our niece. You can't mess with the Shield family not unless you are the Shield family."

A small smile settled on Dean's face as the three made their way to the trainer's room. Deep down, Seth Rollins wasn't the sellout everyone thought he was. Standing next to him, Dean realized their bond of brotherhood wasn't something that could die easily even when it came to the young sellout. No, there was a lot more to it than that, but those deep musings would have to be held for another day as they reached the trainer's room. There was one thing Dean Ambrose was sure he had figured out that evening, thanks to Seth.

There always had to be hope and what Seth had done tonight proved to Dean there was still some left. He had to have hope; they all had to have some.

Maybe, just maybe especially with a little hope, the Shield wasn't as dead as everyone thought it was.

(XXXX)

When Roman finally came to in the trainer's room he could have sworn he was dreaming. Before him stood Dean holding Maya in his arms and standing next to the two was Seth Rollins. The two men were having a conversation which didn't involve insulting or punching each other. Roman blinked rapidly thinking he must have gone back in time or be in an episode of the Twilight Zone. There was no actual way the two of them could be talking to each other.

"Daddy!" cried Maya as she wiggled out of Dean's grasp and ran toward her father as he slowly sat up from the examination table, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Roman gently smiled as he took in a deep breath glancing between the three still in confusion and really wondering what on earth he had missed out on. The last thing he remembered was Wyatt taking Maya, but this must not have been right given the fact she was sitting beside him. Maybe he had just dreamed the whole thing up after the match with Orton, however after closer examination of Rollins and Dean he could see something had happened to them.

There were bruises going up and down Dean's right arm along with a nasty cut above his left eye. Rollins seemed to be gingerly favoring his left arm. Leave it to those two idiots to go save his kid. Maya didn't have a scratch on her showing Wyatt hadn't done anything to the little girl, like Roman had thought he would.

"Daddy, you missed out! Uncle Dean was awesome and saved me from Mr. Wyatt! He was like wham, bam, pow!" the little girl exclaimed while reenacting the scenes from the boiler room. The next thing Maya said though completely caught Roman off guard, "And Uncle Seth helped too! He was the one who made sure I was brave and didn't give up."

Roman nodded at his daughter as she continued to recount the tales of what had happened in the boiler room downstairs. However, the Samoan man only listened half-heartedly as he eyed the sellout in their midst down. Roman couldn't help but wonder why Rollins had decided to help Dean save his little girl after all the terror he had rained on his former teammates over the last year.

Just like the Lunatic Fringe had noticed earlier in the evening, there seemed to be a spark behind Seth Rollins eyes. It wasn't the dead lull or the cowardice which could usually be seen in them. No, this time it was different, it was like a bit of the old Shield Seth was hiding there waiting for a moment to escape and tonight it seemed a small part of him had.

"I'm heading out," Seth spoke up snapping Roman out of his trance of examining the young man, "We never talk about this to anyone. Is that understood? I have a reputation to uphold, you know?"

Dean was about to speak up. He was sure after tonight Seth was going to swear off working for the Authority. Now with Seth's words hanging in the air, it was like the chair shot of 2014 happening all over again. The Lunatic frowned and looked over at Roman, who was probably thinking of an answer to the question. Maybe Roman would say something to convince Seth to stay with them so they could be a band of brothers again.

"Okay," Roman answered with a bit of disappointment in his voice. Dean guessed Roman had thought something along the same lines about the Shield reforming, but was only a pipe dream. To Dean's surprise though Roman added something, "You can always come home, little brother. We'll be here, ready and waiting when you're ready."

Seth nodded in response as he began to leave the room. Before he could get far down the hall, a small body shot out in front of him. Maya stood before him staring up at him looking like she was ready to cry as if she had just lost her favorite toy. He had disappointed the young girl, she too had been hoping for a Shield reunion, but he couldn't let that happen. He needed be champion first, not their brother, not right now. As much Seth wanted to stay with his brothers, he knew he couldn't. He had gained the responsibility of being the face of the company and showcasing himself as champion. If he stayed with Roman and Dean, he'd lose the championship thanks to the Authority hating the two of them. If he stayed with Roman and Dean, he'd have his brother's backs.

Why did life always have to throw you a curve ball?

"Ohana."

Seth looked down at Maya who had just spoken the word while staring up at him. The champion looked down at the little girl confused and perplexed by what she was trying to say to him.

"Ohana means family which means nobody gets left behind or forgotten," Roman spoke up from behind him. Seth turned around seeing the large Samoan standing next to Dean as the two shared a smile. "You remember don't you, Seth? We may not talk about this, but we won't forget you or what you did tonight. You will always be part of this Ohana whether you like it or not."

Seth smiled weakly as he nodded at the two men squatting down to the little girl's eye level and pointing to her heart and extending his pinky finger, "I'll always be part of your Ohana in here, but for right now, I can't. However, I can promise you I'll be back, you can't keep me away can you, munchkin?"

Maya smiled at the champion as she too extended her pinky finger wrapping his and hers together. After she accepted the pinky promise, the little girl grabbed Seth and hugged him tightly while planting a kiss on his cheek before she ran off jumping into Dean's arms and planting a kiss on his cheek too; shocking the hell out of man known as the Lunatic Fringe.

"Like I said, you can always come home," Roman restated as Seth nodded one last time at the two men walking away leaving the two to get situated to head home for the evening. Seth was already late trying to get the next town and the last thing he needed was J & J ragging on him about it, but if it meant being able to spend some time with his brothers, then so be it.

"I'll come back to you guys, I promise." Seth said quietly to himself as he stared at the picture perfect moment between Roman, Dean, and Maya. "We'll always be Ohana."

That night something in Seth Rollins reignited just like Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose had noticed. Maybe it was his drive, maybe it was his desire, or maybe it was his bond he had to his brothers? Whatever it had been, Seth vowed one day he wouldn't have to play the bad guy and could enjoy being part of Dean and Roman's Ohana once more.

"Do you think…" Dean trailed off as he held Maya in his arms staring at the retreating form of Seth Rollins down the corridor then turning to look at Roman, who had a similar expression plastered across his face.

"He'll come around and home when he is ready in his own time," Roman spoke once again with wisdom he didn't think he had, "Maybe one day, we can reform the Shield, but not yet. "

Dean nodded somberly at his best friend shifting his weight since Maya had fallen asleep in his arms. Their bond of brotherhood had made them the reason they were one of the strongest factions. Tonight, he realized sometimes those bonds may be severed, but they were still strong. His brother, the traitorous weasel, Seth Rollins, had shown him the bonds of brotherhood even when the odds were stacked against them and a life was on the line. Between the three former Shield members these bonds were thicker than ever before and nobody could do a damn thing about it.

The End

(XXXX)

 _ ***a/n iii: Reviews = a slice of chocolate cake for the reviewer… now if I could only figure how to send it through the computer… Thanks for reading!**_


End file.
